2Ch 8:1-11 | KD | STEP | The building of the temple was the most important work of Solomon’s reign, as compared with which all the other undertakings of the king fall into the background; and these are consequently only summarily enumerated both in the book of Kings and in the Chronicle. In our chapter, in the first place, we have, ( a ) the building or completion of various cities, which were of importance partly as strongholds, partly as magazines, for the maintenance of the army necessary for the defence of the kingdom against hostile attacks ( ); ( b ) the arrangement of the statute labour for the execution of all his building works ( ); ( c ) the regulation of the sacrificial service and the public worship ( ); and ( d ) the voyage to Ophir ( , ). All these undertakings are recounted in the same order and in the same aphoristic way in 1 Kings 9:10-28, but with the addition of various notes, which are not found in our narrative; while the Chronicle, again, mentions several not unimportant though subordinate circumstances, which are not found in the book of Kings; whence it is clear that in the two narratives we have merely short and mutually supplementary extracts from a more elaborate description of these matters. The city-building . - 2Ch 8:1. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1Ki 9:10. The twenty years are to be reckoned from the commencement of the building of the temple, for he had spent seven years in the building of the temple, and thirteen years in that of his palace (1Ki 6:38; 1Ki 7:1).

‏ 2 Chronicles 8:1-11

Solomon’s City-Building, Statute Labour, Arrangement of Public Worship, and Nautical Undertakings - 2 Chronicles 8

The building of the temple was the most important work of Solomon’s reign, as compared with which all the other undertakings of the king fall into the background; and these are consequently only summarily enumerated both in the book of Kings and in the Chronicle. In our chapter, in the first place, we have, (a) the building or completion of various cities, which were of importance partly as strongholds, partly as magazines, for the maintenance of the army necessary for the defence of the kingdom against hostile attacks (2Ch 8:1-6); (b) the arrangement of the statute labour for the execution of all his building works (2Ch 8:7-11); (c) the regulation of the sacrificial service and the public worship (2Ch 8:12-16); and (d) the voyage to Ophir (2Ch 8:17, 2Ch 8:18). All these undertakings are recounted in the same order and in the same aphoristic way in 1 Kings 9:10-28, but with the addition of various notes, which are not found in our narrative; while the Chronicle, again, mentions several not unimportant though subordinate circumstances, which are not found in the book of Kings; whence it is clear that in the two narratives we have merely short and mutually supplementary extracts from a more elaborate description of these matters.

2Ch 8:1 The city-building. - 2Ch 8:1. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1Ki 9:10. The twenty years are to be reckoned from the commencement of the building of the temple, for he had spent seven years in the building of the temple, and thirteen years in that of his palace (1Ki 6:38; 1Ki 7:1). 2Ch 8:2-4 2Ch 8:2 must be regarded as the apodosis of 2Ch 8:1, notwithstanding that the object, the cities which ... precedes. The unusual position of the words is the result of the aphoristic character of the notice. As to its relation to the statement 1Ki 9:10-13, see the discussion on that passage. בּנה, 2Ch 8:2, is not to be understood of the fortification of these cities, but of their completion, for, according to 1Ki 9:10, 1Ki 9:13, they were in very bad condition. ויּושׁב, he caused to dwell there, i.e., transplanted Israelites thither, cf. 2Ki 17:6. The account of the cities which Solomon built, i.e., fortified, is introduced (2Ch 8:3) by the important statement, omitted in 1 Kings 9: “Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.” על חזק, to be strong upon, that is, prevail against, conquer; cf. 2Ch 27:5. Hamath-zobah is not the city Hamath in Zobah, but, as we learn from 2Ch 8:4, the land or kingdom of Hamath. This did not lie, any more than the city Hamath, in Zobah, but bordered on the kingdom of Zobah: cf. 1Ch 18:3; and as to the position of Zobah, see the Commentary on 2Sa 8:3. In David’s time Hamath and Zobah had their own kings; and David conquered them, and made their kingdoms tributary (1Ch 18:3-10). Because they bordered on each other, Hamath and Zobah are here bound together as a nomen compos. עליה יחזק signifies at least this, that these tributary kingdoms had either rebelled against Solomon, or at least had made attempts to do so; which Solomon suppressed, and in order to establish his dominion over them fortified Tadmor, i.e., Palmyra, and all the store cities in the land of Hamath (see on 1Ki 9:18.); for, according to 1Ki 11:23., he had Rezon of Zobah as an enemy during his whole reign; see on that passage. 2Ch 8:5-6

Besides these, he made Upper and Nether Beth-horon (see on 1Ch 7:24) into fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars. מצור ערי is the second object of ויּבן, and וגו חומות is in apposition to that. Further, he fortified Baalah, in the tribe of Dan, to defend the kingdom against the Philistines, and, according to 1Ki 9:15-17, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer also, - which are omitted here, while in 1Ki 9:17 Upper Beth-horon is omitted, - and store cities, chariot cities, and cavalry cities; see on 1Ki 9:15-19. 2Ch 8:7-8 On the arrangement of the statute labour, see on 1Ki 9:20-23. - This note is in Chr. abruptly introduced immediately after the preceding. 2Ch 8:7 is an absolute clause: “as regards the whole people, those.” מן־בּניהם (2Ch 8:8) is not partitive: some of their sons; but is only placed before the אשׁר: those of their sons (i.e., of the descendants of the whole Canaanite people) who had remained in the land, whom the Israelites had not exterminated; Solomon made a levy of these for statute labourers. The מן is wanting in 1 Kings, but is not to be struck out here on that account. Much more surprising is the אשׁר after שׂראל מן־בּני, 2Ch 8:9, which is likewise not found in 1 Kings, since the following verb נתן לא is not to be taken relatively, but contains the predicate of the subject contained in the words ישׂ מן־בּני. This אשׁר cannot be otherwise justified than by supposing that it is placed after ישׂ בני מן, as in Psa 69:27 it is placed after the subject of the relative clause, and so stands for ישׂ בני מן בן אשׂר: those who were of the sons of Israel (i.e., Israelites) Solomon did not make ... The preplacing of בּניהם מן in 2Ch 8:8 would naturally suggest that ישׂ בני מן should also precede, in order to bring out sharply the contrast between the sons of the Canaanites and the sons of Israel. 2Ch 8:9-10 שׁלישׁיו ושׁרי should be altered into ושׁלישׁיו שׂריו as in 1Ki 9:22, for שׁלישׁים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exo 14:7 and 2Sa 23:8. Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים שׂרי, chief of the superiors, i.e., chief overseer. The Keth. נציבים, praefecti, is the true reading; cf. 1Ch 18:13; 2Ch 17:2. The Keri has arisen out of 1Ki 9:23. These overseers were Israelites, while in the number 550 (1Ki 9:23) the Israelite and Canaanite upper overseers are both included; see on 2Ch 2:17. בּעם refers to כּל־העם, 2Ch 8:7, and denotes the Canaanite people who remained. 2Ch 8:11

The remark that Solomon caused Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married (1Ki 3:1), to remove from the city of David into the house which he had built her, i.e., into that part of his newly-built palace which was appointed for the queen, is introduced here, as in 1Ki 9:24, because it belongs to the history of Solomon’s buildings, although in the Chronicle it comes in very abruptly, the author not having mentioned Solomon’s marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (1Ki 3:1). The reason given for this change of residence on the part of the Egyptian princess is, that Solomon could not allow her, an Egyptian, to dwell in the palace of King David, which had been sanctified by the reception of the ark, and consequently assigned to her a dwelling in the city of David until he should have finished the building of his palace, in which she might dwell along with him. המּה is, as neuter, used instead of the singular; cf. Ew. §318, b. See also on 1Ki 3:1 and 1Ki 9:24.